Northeast communities trolling for mining suppliers: gap analysis identifies list of needs in mining supply.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: MINING

Anew website has cropped up promoting "Ontario's Golden North" as the ideal region for mining supply and service companies to set up shop.

Steered by the Timmins Economic Development Corp. (TEDC), the three-year-old, Mining Supply, Trade & Investment Project is a joint initiative of the communities of Timmins, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Black River-Matheson, and Temiskaming Shores.

The project is designed to attract mining supply and service companies to the program's catchment area through two avenues: foreign direct investment, and trade and expansion.

It's jointly funded by FedNor, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) and the participating communities.

Tackling the goals of the project first meant pinpointing gaps in the existing value chain, said program co-ordinator Jon Belanger.

Working with an Ottawa-based consultant, the group conducted an in-depth gap analysis, consulting with mines and mining suppliers in the region.

"With that information, it helps us home in on future investment targets, and it also tells us a little bit about the community and the region in general and where we have difficulties," Belanger said.

"You talk to a lot of business people locally and they'll be able to tell you that without a study," he added, "but it helps put it to the page and helps formalize known problems that have been spoken about but have never really been verified by an external source."

Some of the identified needs include everything from a comprehensive HVAC service to 3-D printing to large-scale mine remediation.

Belanger said that information allowed the group to generate a number of leads, which he's currently following up on.

The TEDC continues to work with companies like INEOS Calabrian to address areas of improvement identified in the project's gap analysis.

The Texas-headquartered company began construction on its liquid sulphur dioxide facility in Timmins in 2015. The project was expected to create 45 construction jobs and 20 permanent positions.

The Mining Supply, Trade & Investment Project's website brands the catchment area of the participating communities as...